


Arizona goes to the store to sell a glass of milk. Or something like that.

by NotSoDogNinja



Series: On the Lamb: Related Stories [2]
Category: Them's Fightin' Herds (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, One Shot, Sort Of, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25113661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSoDogNinja/pseuds/NotSoDogNinja
Summary: A short one off about everyone's favorite cow, in time for Cow Appreciation day! (Even though it's a week from the day I posted this)The title says it all. Absolutely nothing more, nothing less. Also, Cashmere! And depression!And Alternate Universes!This is related to my other story, On the Lamb. More a less, a "Meanwhile."Beginning set just around the beginning of Chapter two of On the Lamb.
Series: On the Lamb: Related Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818748
Kudos: 1





	Arizona goes to the store to sell a glass of milk. Or something like that.

"Ugh..." Our chipper protagonist of Chapter 1 was returning to Reine after the notification of the false alarm. "Ah could've sworn that those varmints were up tuh somethin'." She had spent longer than she wanted to with the alpacas at the Highlands' Huacaya mountain range, trying to return home, but because of the sheer distance unable to.

She sighed. She had waited two weeks for this chance. Ticket in hoof, she headed to the shore. A few alpacas stood from a distance, watching her. The ones that took her in. She had actually managed to fit in rather well. Strong, capable, knows how to make carts with wheels, good for the greater good. For alpacakind at least. Arizona, on the other hand was absolutely bushed. From teaching these highlanders the way to create simple sledges, to using her strength to help smash rocks, there was barely any time for rest. 

Still, it was good to see the alpacas have more survival skills, and maybe be less... depressed, to put it bluntly.

Not the time to think about that. Using the small amount of salt that she had, Arizona had managed to somehow purchase a boat ticket back to Reine City, then hopefully back to her probably devastated parents. "What a waste of hard-earned time..."

What does that even mean?

As the ship appeared across the horizon, Arizona took another look at the frowning faces on the ridge. Anik, the dull green father figure, was probably the most steadfast of them all. He was actually determined, for an alpaca's standards, often taking rein on issues most others wouldn't dare face.

His tannish wife Mira was also talented. To be honest, Arizona would miss them almost as much as her own parents, but the fact that they would just have yet another mouth to look after help soften the blow, impolite as that may be.

The ship started to pull up on the beach. Ticket on horn, the calf jumped clear onto the ship, waving a final goodbye to the alpaca family she had spent the last weeks with.

* * *

Sitting alone in her small cabin, Arizona took a look outside the small window. Still ocean for as far as she could see. Nothing of note. Nothing but bleakness, almost as bleak as the fog clouds that had consumed her almost just before... Yeah.

Suddenly standing up, she waddled her way over to the nearest trashcan and hurled. Still hadn't gotten over being on water. After this little incident passed, she stood up and recalled her interaction with the dark unicorn, Oleander.

_Alright, whadda we got, here?_

_*noise*_

_Aw, nuts, is this thing booby trapped?_

_You there! Who are you and what is your purpose here? Speak!_

_Well, thank you fer askin'. I'm Arizona, Champ'een of the Prairie!_

_Oh, really is that all? Well, I suggest you leave. You're in my way, and I've important business to attend to._

_Leave? Now, look here, missy! I sure gettin' tired 'a everyone tellin' me "stay outta" this, and "go home" that! I've worked hard to get here, and I ain't leavin' til I get a gander at this stone! I've got a key to learn about!_

_A KEY, you say? *Sigh* Well, in that case, I suppose we do have a problem. For I am Oleander, Champion of the Woodlands! The most powerful sorceress in Foenum! Last chance to back down-_

_WAAAAAAIT!_

Arizona clearly recoiled at the recollection of that voice. That annoying voice. Ugh. It seethed with an air of self-importance, like some entitled jerk who just wanted to hear a "yessir" from all commands, and- 

_What is it, cervidae?_

_Yeah! What's the holdup?! And how did yuh find us so fast?_

_Er... From the reports from the lead elders... the predator situation... was a... er... False alarm._

_WHAAAAAT?!  
_

_Yer kiddin' me, aren't yew? There ain't no way that-_

_Well, did you SEE any predators? There hasn't been a single sighting of any of them._

_That is simply preposterous! I-I-i...oh._

_Yeah...I didn't see any in the caverns, now that yer bringin' it up..._

_Sorry. I'm just following the orders of the High-_

_Yeah, yeah, we get it. Now what!?_

_Just...go home I guess?_

_Not until I take care of this bovine! I have ancient dialects to decode, and that schemer is still in my way!_

_Not anymore, Ah'm not._

_What?_

_You can still do whatever ya want with that rock with the funny markin's on it. The 'ole point of me bein' out an' about hermit style is 'cause a' the preds. If the predators ain't 'ere, then there's no point for me bein' 'ere. Giddae. I got a family tae return tae._

_Wait, family? And here I thought that you were just some orphan on the run._

Not the most interesting way to break up a fight, but an effective one nonetheless. Effectively, the two shook hooves and went on their way, Oleander remaining to study the inscriptions on the large stone tablet and Arizona trying to return home.

As she sat in the cold dejected darkness, she had time to reflect on her actions during her journey. A few minutes later, she curled up into the fetal position as she cried for the first time in days. Crying for abandoning her family. Crying for the unnecessary bruises and broken relationships she caused. Crying from feeling dejected and completely down.

Standing up again, she took a look at her room. Finding a little closet, she opened it, revealing a single hat, hanging from a hook.

_**GAINED CHIPPER SKIPPER!** _ _+2 Googly eyes +1 Superstar points. You're on an Odyssey, so just JUMP!_

She donned the hat simply for the ironic value of it all. It also felt genuinely nice, soft. She very nearly vowed to find what cloth the hat was created from, but eventually just sat down on the bed again. She had lost her bandana and Dusty Duster, anyhow. The former, used to keep a baby warm, the latter used on Anik's battered leg.

With nothing better left to do, she curled up in her bed and fell asleep.

_Go to sleep and advance the story?_

[Sure... I'm bushed. ]

Wait, hold on... 

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

Waking up from the ring of this impromptu alarm clock, head spinning, Arizona groggily headed towards the sound of the rapping.

"Knock, knock, open up the door, you know I think you're a real bore, come and look at this-"

Barely stopping herself from clouting the reindeer across the face, Arizona instead walked past the reindeer captain onto the deck. He called back to her. "Aw come on! My rapping wasn't THAT bad. Much better than all of those stupid folk songs I hear you bovines are all so fond of! You have no idea what real music is!"

Arizona just blotted out his yelling. Screwing her eyes shut, she stepped onto the ramp, then onto the beach.

She was back on shore, back in the... _CITY..._ ugh... and still very much away from home. It was almost night anyways. She could probably stay close by this place for the night; no reason to rush. She needed to return to her parents, but nighttime was... She was still a bit afraid of the dark. Walking back into the city, she traversed the now, somehow familiar streets, dimly lit by sparkling streetlights. She had hoped to never see this place again, but no... she just had to come back like this, right?

Heading back through the north part of town, past the museum. That place. Right. The place where she saw Velvet, or whatever that drama queen's name was. That tinkling accented voice, the obnoxious amount of "fake-up" as her mother would call it, and large chest fluff to boot. Not that she ever tried to get that thing dirty, annoying camper she was. 

"Wait... Wasn't she a- Why didn't she..." Quickly dismissing the thought, Arizona pushed on towards the gate. She...didn't even know why. She just wanted to go somewhere, after being cooped up in a dark room on a boat.

For no real reason, other than to fight muscle stiffness, she took a short walk around the small lake in the center of the city. If it even counted as a lake.

Past the spot where she saw Sir Hoofstrong the Stronghoof, where she received the Heroic Headband. She still had that at least. _Eh, might as well. At least to find any favor in these clip-cloppers and their fancy pants._

She donned the headband, midwalk, standing on hindhooves as she did so. Just as she was about to start heading to the gate again, a familiar voice called out to her. "Hello!"

"Heya...Cashmere, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it is me, Cashmere! Aren't you that same cow from earlier? Knew that wouldn't be the last time we would see each other."

Sighing, Arizona halfheartedly gave a reply. "Yeah..."

Seeing the usually chipper cow in such an unusually sour mood, Cashmere just needed to know more. "Deer, what's itching you? You've been looking like you've had the longest sulk."

"Surprisin'ly not. It's only lasted myself the last two weeks. By no means is that a record."

"Well, consider that a record scratch for me. From what I heard from that one deer gushing over Hoofstrong, he looked at you favorably. What _is_ your problem?"

Arizona stepped back, lowering her voice. "Well... It's just that... Ah went all this way, just to be told by a stupid whitetailed that there was a false trail, and that mah work was pointless? Ah left mah own family for a threat that didn't even exist? I had to fight mah own father to even get the chance to do this, and only to be told 'oh, no, there's actually no threat, go home?!' What's the point here?! What-"

She was stopped by Cashmere, who simply held a hoof over both of their mouths. After a few seconds of holding what must have been a painful pose, Cashmere offered her own two ~~cents~~ salt cubes. "I see... Well, I know a thing or two about leaving your family behind. As you already know, I get around, a LOT, and that meant making several sacrifices, both to myself and to my family. Mind you, I still see them, but I'm not extremely close to them. That doesn't matter. The point is, I had to leave my family as well. And for what? A sense of seeing the world as a travelling salesman? A shaky at best salt payment? I'm no psychologist, and to be honest, only the unicorns have anything close to those. But that's no matter. You're my... friend." She practically forced that last word out. "And you know what friends do? Friends care for each other.

"The point I'm trying to make is... We all have to make sacrifices for things that may or may not work out. When I first started to sell my hats, hardly anyone ever stopped by my little cart. I was discouraged, but you know what, deer? That's alright. I just bounced back and kept at it. Now look at me! I can afford to overprice! This even applies to you. In your case, your adventure got stopped short. Now, using that logic, what should you do?"

Pondering, Arizona sat for a second before uncertainly replying, "Start a new 'un? Keep at it?"

Cashmere's glasses popped up a full inch in excitement. "Yes! Exactly! Where one adventure ends, another one begins. There's no reason to sulk."

Arizona looked at Cashmere. "You're right. I'm in no need of sulkin' right now! Sorry for the trouble."

"Ah, no trouble at all! I'm simply glad I could share some of my wisdom with you."

"Yeah, I-" She suddenly cut herself off with a loud yawn.

Looking at the cow with concern in her eyes, Cashmere added, "You're welcome to stay at my place if you'd like. Unless, of course, you have the fifty-thousand plus salt needed to stay at the inn."

Murmuring to herself softly, Arizona accepted the offer. Cashmere led her into her backroom, where an extra blanket and pillow were laid out with care. "Your fee? Comes out to be... Some help unloading tomorrow."

But Arizona didn't seem to mind. She had already fallen asleep, deeper than when she was on the boat.

Cashmere simply shut the back door, and headed over to the inn, where she could get a true beauty rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I'm probably going to make more prequel oneshots like this, but if I should just focus on the story, just let me know!  
> See you next time.
> 
> You know, I was originally going to have Madison appear as well, but eventually decided against it in favor of Cashmere. Don't exactly know how I would fit that in anyways.  
> Also, Them's Fightin' Herds pulled themselves out of EVO. Sad times, this.


End file.
